Northern Louisiana Medical Center (NLMC) Acquires LEVEL II NURSERY LICENSE

Before now, any baby born in Lincoln Parish who needed a higher level of neonatal care- being ill or premature- was transferred out of the parish to ensure that he or she received appropriate medical attention. The reason these babies were transferred was due to Northern Louisiana Medical Center only offering Level I Nursery Services, the most essential of newborn care requirements. Today, after receiving a new state license to operate a Level II Neonatal Intensive Care Unit (NICU) or (Level II Nursery), NLMC will now have the ability to keep these babies close to home with their mothers, which has been the dream of NLMC physicians and administration for some time now. By developing a Level II Neonatal Intensive Care Unit, NLMC is now able to care for babies as small as 3 pounds and infants that arrive as much as 2 months early.

One difference between a Level I Nursery and a Level II Nursery is that a Level II Nursery is able to take care of neonates who require ventilator support, while a Level I Nursery would need to transfer these babies to a hospital that is able to provide a higher level of care. A Level II Nursery must also be overseen by a Medical Director with a special emphasis on neonates. The Medical Director of NLMC’s brand new Level II Nursery is Shelly McCormick, MD, Board Certified Pediatrician with extensive work experience with neonates. “We want to provide state of the art care in as much of a home-like environment for our tiny patients, and their families,” stated Dr. McCormick. In addition to Dr. McCormick’s vast experience in taking care of these infants, NLMC also staffs the Level II Nursery with an experienced crew of neonatal nurse practitioners 24 hours a day, 7 days a week. These nurse practitioners, who have specialized training in neonatal care, are not required to be staffed in the Level II Nursery, however, the team at NLMC feels it is vitally important to have these neonatal nurse practitioners in house 24/7 to ensure all the babies born at NLMC enjoy the highest level of care possible. Doug Sills, CEO of Northern Louisiana Medical Center states “We are excited to be providing a higher level of care for the babies born at our hospital. Our experienced team is dedicated to delivering patient care in our Level II NICU. I know the patients that we serve will be duly impressed with the level of care we are able to provide. This is a service that, in my opinion, is long overdue.”

Not only has the nursery staff been preparing for Level II, but many of the ancillary units such as social services, have received specialized training required to care for these little ones and their families.

To find out more about our services, please visit www.northernlouisianamedicalcenter.com or call 254-2453.

About Northern Louisiana Medical Center

Northern Louisiana Medical Center is a 159 bed acute care hospital providing an array of medical services including: intensive care, women’s care, imaging, rehabilitation, and physician services. NLMC has served the community of Ruston and the surrounding area since 2006.